Holding hostage workplace rights for gays until a GOP-led Congress is ready for trans protections asks more of gays than trans activists ask of their own

WHEN THE U.S. House passed hate crimes legislation last month that included ?gender identity? as well as ?sexual orientation? as protected categories, transgender rights activists were understandably thrilled. It was, after all, the firs...

Surgeon Bill Ledger, clad in faded green scrubs, whispers a prayer in Latin and prepares to operate. Before him, a young woman lies anaesthetised. "Stop pulling on the cervix, please," he instructs one of his six-strong team of assistants.

Ledger carefully inserts a tiny camera lens into an opening below the woman's belly button. Above them, a television monitor flickers into life and an...

Overconfidence could drag down the Texas Marriage Amendment, a public policy attorney told the Smith County Republican Club on Thursday.

Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Legal Institute warned that when they're overconfident, "people never see the other side coming."

And Texas could experience that with the Nov. 8 ballot measure, a proposed constitutional amendment that would define mar...

The answer, among many to 21st Century etiquette conundrums for women, is two, says Good Housekeeping magazine.

Its guide advises that while three kisses are de rigueur for French ladies, two is quite sufficient here.

The magazine's Noughtiquette guide also addresses such thorny issues as showing the top of a thong and using the loo while your other half is showering.

The mag...

The changes come under an agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning.

Spitzer said authorities did not have to resort to litigation. He said Yahoo, "acting as a good corporate citizen, ... did the right thing. We asked them to create a filter to stop this kind of thing and they have done so."

In June, while still in discussions w...

There's a warning over toxic chemicals in baby products.

A study by the Public Interest Research Group claims says there are toxic chemicals in teethers, bath books, sleep accessories and other products marketed for infants. The chemicals have been linked to premature birth, early onset puberty and reproductive defects.

PIRG advises parents to avoid allowing their children to put c...

Bisto-tanned Californicating sex-chimp Eva Longoria throws a mucky look at the Daily Express' one remaining reader as the rag briefly explains the vagaries of the new video iPod.

Desperate Housewives, you see, is one of the first progs that'll be available for the gadget-crazy iPunter now it's hitting the shops, for a cool £299 for the swanky 60 gigabyte model, say the Express a...